Yudin requested: 1) To exchange for the CC of the Bund 200 to 300 thousand rubles for Nikolaevsky credit notes for their foreign work (according to the adopted resolution of the CC of the Bund the purpose of the work is armed overthrow of the White Guard power). 2) To pay a transfer of 150 thousand rubles that Yudin has in his possession as the former chairman of the Minsk Central Workers' Cooperative.

N. N. Krestinsky in a letter asked V. I. Lenin's opinion on permitting the exchange of money and expressed himself in favor of payment of the transfer.

The Politburo of the CC of the RCP(b) on November 8, 1919 decided: to permit N. N. Krestinsky to exchange for the CC of the Bund 300 thousand rubles for money of the old standard.

2 M. I. Liber — one of the leaders of the Bund. He received the October socialist revolution with hostility, was an active enemy of Soviet power. Later withdrew from political activity, was engaged in economic work.

3 V. D. Medem — one of the leaders of the Bund. After the October socialist revolution stood at the head of Bundist organizations in Poland. In 1921 he left for the USA, where on the pages of the right-socialist Jewish newspaper "Vorwarts" ("Forward") appeared with slanderous articles against Soviet Russia.

# NOTE TO A. V. GALKIN

Comrade Galkin!

I request you to examine this as quickly as possible. Urgent¹.

10/XI [1919] Lenin

Written on a report memo of the Manager of Affairs of the Council of People's Commissars, chairman of the Committee for the Organization of Sanitary Inspection Points at Moscow Stations V. D. Bonch-Bruevich to the Small Sovnarkom of November 10, 1919 with a petition for an allocation to the Manager of Affairs of the Sovnarkom of 25 million rubles for the Committee to construct seven sanitary inspection points for nine Moscow stations.

There is also a notation on the report memo from the People's Commissar of Health N. A. Semashko with a request to the Small Sovnarkom to allocate money to the Manager of Affairs of the Sovnarkom.

On the same day, November 10, the question mentioned was heard at a session of the MSNK. The requested sum was allocated.

A. V. Galkin — chairman of the Small Sovnarkom.

# NOTES TO A. I. RYKOV¹

[November 15, 1919]

To Rykov,

What did they answer?

They tried to finish this road many times and each time in view of the threat of the Whites the rails were transported to the rear. I asked the field staff to decide this question definitively. My opinion: do not build roads and give the rails for transporting fuel.

A. I. Rykov

To Rykov

I am also in favor of this. Put pressure on the RVS of the Republic and transfer (immediately) to the Council of Defense².

1 The notes were written by V. I. Lenin on a telegram from S. I. Aralov (member of the Revolutionary Military Councils of the XII, XIV armies and the South-Western Front) and V. P. Zatovsky (member of the Revolutionary Military Councils of the XII, XIII, XIV armies and the South-Western Front) to the Chairman of the Council of Defense V. I. Lenin of November 14, 1919 with a request to confirm the previously given permission to construct a narrow-gauge railroad line Novo-Bezhitsa—Chernigov.

2 The question of constructing narrow-gauge timber-haulage railroads was on the agenda of sessions of the Council of Defense on November 17, 20, 26, and 28, 1919. At the last session a report from the VSNKH on the execution of the decision of the Council of Defense of November 20, 1919 on branch timber-haulage routes was heard. Following the report, a decision on the construction of timber-haulage narrow-gauge steam and horse-drawn railroads in the regions of the fronts was adopted and subsequently signed by V. I. Lenin, which indicated that "the choice of regions for constructing timber-haulage narrow-gauge steam and horse-drawn railroads in the regions of the fronts is entrusted to the disposition of the administration of military construction of the fronts with the coordination of the specially authorized representative of the Council of Defense for the procurement of fuel."

# RESOLUTION ON A TELEGRAM FROM YEKATERINBURG¹

[November 18, 1919]

Today itself to the SNK².

The resolution was written on a telegram from the Bureau of the Metals Department of the VSNKH and member of the presidium of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions A. A. Andreev to the Council of Defense V. I. Lenin concerning the catastrophic condition of the mining and factory industry due to the lack of provisions, with a request to take the most decisive measures.

At a session of the Council of Defense on November 20, 1919 the question of supplying food to workers in the Urals was heard. Following the decision of the Council of Defense, V. I. Lenin wrote a telegram to the Revolutionary Military Council of the 3rd army, the Perm provincial food commissar, the commissar of the Perm railroad, and the Yekaterinburg provincial food commissar with instructions to supply all workers of the Urals with a complete stock of necessary provisions (see Complete Collected Works, vol. 51, p. 85).

# NOTE TO E. M. SKLYANSKY

[November 25, 1919]

To Sklyansky: what has been done? the results?¹

1 The note to E. M. Sklyansky was written on a telegram from the provincial Revolutionary Committee of Velikiy Ustyug to the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (copy to the Council of Defense) of November 25, 1919 with a repeated request to permit the question of the creation of a rear Northern Dvina provincial revolutionary committee. On [date] this question was discussed in the Council of Defense. A decision was adopted to reject the stated request and to leave civilian administration in Velikiy Ustyug in the hands of the provincial executive committee.

# RESOLUTION ON A TELEGRAM FROM K. K. YURENEV

[November 27, 1919]

From Smolensk
[To] Moscow, Chairman of the Council of Defense

Received 27/XI—19 at 17 h. 10 min.
To Lenin

Telegram

[To] Moscow, Chairman of the Council of Defense Lenin, copy to the Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council Trotsky

[In] order to intensify work on the procurement and import of firewood [within] the bounds of provinces included [in] the Western Front, a special conference was organized at the Revolutionary Military Council of the front... [To] procurement Red Army soldiers are attracted according to a plan worked out by the Chief of Staff. [In] the regions of procurement we are intensifying political work*.

Member of the Revolutionary Military Council: Yurenev

To Sklyansky for a report to the Council of Defense: is it not possible to do it [this way] everywhere?¹

* The underlinings in the telegram were made by V. I. Lenin.

1 At a session of the Council of Defense on December 10, 1919, E. M. Sklyansky reported on the telegram from member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Western Front K. K. Yurenev. A decision was adopted to confirm the order of the RVSР of December 10, 1919 on the use of means of the Military Department for timber-procurement work to provide railroads with firewood.

# NOTE TO M. F. VLADIMIRSKY

[November 28, 1919]

To Vladimirsky: if there was a fire, are there no rules concerning this?
Grounds for relief?

The note to M. F. Vladimirsky, member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, was written on a copy of a telegram from citizens of the village of Gromsha, Oselinskaya volost, Elninskiy uezd, Smolensk province to the Chairman of the Sovnarkom V. I. Lenin (copy: to the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee M. I. Kalinin) with a request for exemption from requisitions and deliveries in connection with the poor capacity of farms affected by a fire in 1916.

The telegram contains underlinings made by V. I. Lenin.

# RESOLUTION ON A LETTER FROM A. K. PAYKES

[Later than December 3, 1919]

To the Organization Bureau of the Central Committee and then to the Council of Defense².

A. K. Paykes — member of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, in a letter to V. I. Lenin from Omsk of December 3, 1919 reported on the work of the commission for the accounting of property left behind by Kolchak's forces, with a request to place a suitable person at the head of this commission, to send from the center workers familiar with Soviet construction, in connection with an acute shortage of personnel, and also not to release I. N. Smirnov, chairman of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, member of the RVS of the 5th army of the Eastern Front, from work in the RVS of the army.

2 The Council of Defense on December 11, having heard a telegram from I. N. Smirnov about the establishment of an accounting commission, entrusted the Siberian Revolutionary Committee with organizing the accounting commission and proposed "to all institutions and commissariats whose representatives are members of the accounting commission to send at the disposal of comrade Smirnov the specialists requested by them...". On [date] a telegram was sent under the signature of the Chairman of the Council of Defense V. I. Lenin to the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, the RVS of the Siberian Front, the Ural-Siberian commission of the VSNKH and others: "The commission for accounting, collection, and distribution of unowned [property] as well as all property left by the enemy, approved by the Council of Defense, in its work is subordinate to the Siberian Revolutionary Committee. In addition to already approved representatives, the commission includes a representative of Chusonabrama and the presidium of the VSNKH comrade Vladimir Rubinstein. The appointment of the chairman is entrusted to the Siberian Revolutionary Committee."

# INSCRIPTION ON THE THESES OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF AGRICULTURE OF THE RSFSR S. P. SEREDA "FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF LAND AFFAIRS IN UKRAINE"¹

[Later than December 3, 1919]

For approval by the Politburo.
I am in favor².

Lenin

In the resolution of the CC of the RCP(b) "On Soviet Power in Ukraine," adopted on November 29, 1919 and confirmed by the Eighth All-Russian Conference of the RCP(b), which took place on December 2—4, 1919, in point 7 it is stated regarding the tasks of land policy in Ukraine (see V. I. Lenin. Complete Collected Works, vol. 39, pp. 334—337).

The Conference entrusted the CC of the RCP(b) together with a special commission of Ukrainian workers to develop and publish an additional resolution on Soviet Power in Ukraine, in which the questions of the elimination of the landowner land system, of the village poor and middle peasant, etc., should be developed in detail. Apparently, the theses were written by S. P. Sereda in connection with this decision.

On [date] February 1920 the All-Ukrainian Revolutionary Committee, guided by the decision of the Eighth Party Conference and the theses of Sereda, approved by the Politburo of the CC, issued a law on land (see Ukrainian Soviet Construction During the Years of Civil War (1919—1920). Kiev, 1957, pp. 59—61). This law played a large role in resolving the land question in Ukraine.